What's a Velocity Point Worth

[smit0847]

Do you have any domestic trips planned before the end of the year? With half-price upgrades the points have extra redemption value right now (assuming you don't already have the points needed to upgrade any intended travel)

Do they reckon they will offer the half-price upgrades next year?

 

[phantompharter]

Old thread but have been reading through it as I have a few velocity points that I wasnt sure how to value.

FWIW - from two separate CC purchases I did earlier this year I was able to 'buy' about 70,000 points at a value of 0.68c per point.
Each of these two CC also came with 2 for 1 flights or a free cross australia return flight. If I factored in the value of these flights, then the cost of these points realistically dropped to zero.
(I can give detail of the cards if anyone is interested).

Based on fares for virgin flights if I can obtain a redemption value of greater than 2c per point (ie flight cost / redemption points required) then I think I am getting a pretty good deal. If there is reward availability on a last minute fare with expensive Y/J then this cents per point value goes up even higher.

 

[phantompharter]

Also I went through the VA redemption table and plugged through what it would cost in:

• points per mile
• cents per mile; and
• actual cost of the redemption using the 0.68c per point that I purchased them for.

Its a fairly busy chart but hopefully you get the idea.

So PER-BME in Y at 1040 miles requires 10,900 velocity points which at 0.68 c per point is worth $74.43 - a pretty good deal in my book!



Also am curious to know why people don't compare final cents per mile flown as a way for comparing actual value for a flight?
I find it a useful way to get an absolute comparison between programs and flights and have been aiming for under 10c per mile flown for domestic Y in Australia (and am happier when it is less than 5c per mile flown).
(Also not sure how this compares to international flights - i.e. whether the longer distance means the flight is cheaper per mile flown or more expensive - as I have not done any international flights for a while.)

Hope someone finds this info useful.
Cheers.